News from Puri

Internationally renowned sand artist and Padma Shri Sudarsan Pattnaik added another feather to his cap by creating the biggest-ever sand sculpture of Santa Claus at Puri beach on Sunday.

Byanjana Dwadashi, a special festival for Lord Sri Krishna, was celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervour at the pilgrim city of Puri on Sunday. On the occasion, over 850 traditional dishes were prepared and served to the Lord at mutts and temples.

While attending a golden jubilee function of a school at Gop block of the district, Swain raised questions on the trustworthiness of the EVMs.

A delegation of the SJTA including temple administrator, Ranjan Kumar Das and members of the Srimandir Management Committee, Ashok Mohapatra met the Shankaracharya in Ujjain on Saturday.

As the New Year nears, tourists who are turning in a huge number, are left with the smell of urine, decomposing garbage and broken/unfinished pavements. Moreover, mounds of sand and construction material left on the road blocking pedestrians have also created inconvenience for tourists.

As per reports, the boat developed a technical snag just 1 kilometre away from Janhikuda after leaving the jetty at 1pm.

Upon reaching Puri today, Chirag Chinubhai Patel of Ahmedabad in Gujarat got the two ‘chitas’ weighing about 1.75 kilograms consecrated by the chief of the Chhattisa Nijog Janarddan Pattajoshi and senior Singhari servitor Madhusudan Singhari.

As per reports, a complaint was filed against these four teachers with the Police Crime Branch in 2022 alleging that they submitted fake certificates to get teacher jobs. The Crime Branch with the help of the District Education Officer (DEO) verified their certificates and found them to be fake.

Launching an attack on the block administration, Puri Sadar MLA Jayant Sarangi said that there is no transparency in official work and project implementation while the roots of corruption have been spreading from the block office to the villages.

Devotees and servitors have demanded to ensure smooth and disciplined solemnisation of rituals of the deities on the day. 

As per the priest, there was cash and ornaments which are usually donated by devotees coming to the temple. After stealing valuables from the donation box, the miscreants dumped the box near the kitchen of the temple.

Internationally acclaimed sand artist and member of the Srimandir Management Committee, Sudarsan Pattnaik on Saturday wrote a letter to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requesting him to save ancient artworks falling under the parikrama project. 

Two bike riders died in a reported road accident at Bhandaridanda village under Puri’s Satyabadi block. While the exact cause of the accident is unknown, their bodies and a badly damaged bike were spotted on the road this morning by the locals.

From this day onwards, Goddess Mahalakshmi leaves for her parent’s home for a month. For this reason, food cooked by Lord Jagannath’s mother (Yashoda) is offered early in the morning. This prasad is known as Pahili Bhog which along with Ballabh Bhog is offered to the Lord during this month.

Devotees visiting the shrine will be encouraged to carry puja materials like flowers and bhogs in paper, cotton bags, bhogei, small bamboo containers, and small wooden baskets inside the temple, said SJTA chief administrator Ranjan Das.